Contact: Celes
by TSUBASAxFai
Summary: Celes was a heavily fortified colony that was never bothered by the Covenant. Until it happened, and humanity was unprepared for the fall of the planet... Prequel triliogy to 'The Power of Three' triliogy
1. First Contact

_**A/N: I know that I have no business writing another story before I've actually finished my other ones, but this was an idea I needed to get out. This is the first of a prequel trilogy to 'The Power of Three' trilogy, called 'Contact: Celes'. This is all based around the origins of Noble Six, her past, her planet's destruction, and how she came to be. Without further ado, let's begin.**_

**Contact: Celes**

***Chapter 1: First Contact***

Austin double-checked the radar. There was no doubt in his mind about it. A massive fleet was heading towards the planet of Celes, and there was no way of distinguishing between friend or foe.

Celes was one of the most populated colony worlds, third behind Reach and Earth. In the sky surrounding the planet were 50 orbital MAC guns, called Super MACs by the military. Celes had major cities all over the area, including Shinganshina, Seresu, Scaro, Gallifrey, Arcadia, Clow, and the capital Valeria. There was never a colonial insurrection on the planet, which was probably why humans wanted to live there.

And now it was getting attention, from a fleet of beings that were most likely nonhuman in origin.

"Captain, I think you need to see this," Austin called over. Captain Fluorite followed him, and he was shocked. Celes had first contact with an intelligent alien species.

"Send out two Longsword Interceptors. Have them do the proper responses, and see if they send one back," the Captain ordered. Austin nodded, "Jason, Ares, get your birds in the air to greet our visitors. Sending the location now." He tapped a button on the screen that allowed them to hear the entire conversation.

A large craft appeared on the west side of Celes. The craft was sleek, with an air of predatory beauty about it. The Longswords flew to the craft, circling it.

"You are in UNSC controlled airspace. Please state your intentions," Ares said over the COM. The reply came back, and the voice was filled with calm fury, old and charged with power.

"_Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instrument. We are the Covenant." _Blue streaks lanced from the port and starboard sides of the ship's hull, colliding with the Longswords. The bombers were reduced to dust and ashes, nothing left at all.

"Sound the alarm! We have hostile forces bearing down, west side! I want those MAC guns ready to fire. Ladies and gentlemen, we're at war," the Captain told them. Everyone in the Valeria military base sprang into action, alerting all of the other cities of the impeding destruction.

"This is Captain Fluorite. We are under attack from hostile alien forces known as the Covenant. The question if we're alone in the universe has now been answered. These craft are bearing down on the planet, and we need to ready all defenses," Fluorite ordered. The screens showed the MAC guns were charging to their full power.

The orbital MAC guns drew their power from planet-side generators hidden in Shinganshina and Valeria. If those two cities fell, the planet was screwed.

'_We'll need all of our forces to get rallied,' _Austin thought. The radar bleeped, the Covenant ship heading towards the surface of Celes.

"What direction is that ship heading towards?" Fluorite asked. Austin looked at the screen.

"They're going straight for Shinganshina, sir." Then it hit him what they were planning to do.

"Sir, they're going to take out the generators!" The Captain raised himself up. He would not let his home city fall. Not if he could help it. He turned to his troops.

"Men, you have ten minutes to get ready and shove a cork in your ass," he told them. Even in as serious a situation as this, the men couldn't help but laugh. It was one of their favorite jokes, and they laughed as if they heard it for the first time.

"You always know how to make us liven up a bit, don't you?" Austin asked. He picked up a MA5B Assault Rifle and a DMR, along with several clips of ammo. He slapped a fresh clip in the DMR first, the ammo counter reading a full 15 round clip. He loaded the Assault Rifle, 28 rounds ready to fire. He looked at the viewscreen.

"Sir, several fighter-class ships are launching from the Covenant Cruiser," he alerted. Fluorite looked, and swore.

"Fuck. We'll need to hurry up and launch another pair of Longswords to engage," he muttered. He linked over the COM to the pilots waiting to launch.

"Delta leader, you have permission to get in your birds and engage the enemy. Get going," the Captain ordered.

"_Yes sir. We'll blast them to hell and back Captain." _Four Longswords flew into the sky and met the Seraphs. Mike, the squadron leader, fired a pair of missiles at the alien ships, only to see it get absorbed harmlessly, a blue outline flaring over the Seraph.

"They got shields sir! Our missiles aren't doing any damage," Mike informed. The Seraph turned, fired a plasma torpedo, and destroyed the _Longsword_ in one shot.

"_Worthless humans. The rest of your kind will be exterminated like the disease you are," _the commander of the Covenant fleet said.

"We can't allow them to reach the generators. Super MAC guns, fire now!" the Captain ordered. The Super MAC guns fired, and four Covenant Corvettes were obliterated. A Covenant Supercarrier fired in return and took out 7 of the orbital guns, bits of floating metal being the only remains of the mightiest non-nuclear weapon ever created by man. Austin slammed his fist down.

"Dammit! We lost 7 guns sir. We have 43 left." A plasma torpedo destroyed another 3 guns. "Okay, now we have 40 left." The Captain rubbed his temples. It was only a matter of time before a couple of Covenant ships slipped through their defenses and took out the generators powering the Super MAC guns. Those were what was keeping Celes in the fight and not be overrun by the alien fleet. If they lost the orbital platforms, it was over.

"Sir, half of our fleet in orbit has been destroyed. We don't have a chance of winning this," Austin informed. To prove his point, several Frigates were gutted from stem to stern, taking out the life support and killing everyone on board the ship.

"Damn. Will the _Little Dragon _be ready to fight?" Fluorite asked. Austin shook his head, "Sir, the ship's weapons systems are still being loaded, and we haven't properly tested its flying capabilities yet either." The Captain snorted.

"Hurry up then. We'll need every ship we can get." The _Little Dragon _was a prototype ship, known to only a select few individuals. Austin knew about because he was the chief design director. ONI appointed him to the project 2 years ago, and it was still being built.

"Once that ship is ready, I doubt our new friends will still want to play," Fluorite said, motioning to the Covenant ships on the viewscreen. Austin looked at the forces, "I can only hope so, sir."

He looked at the screen revealing the list of human forces remaining, and he was shocked.

"Sir! We only have 20 Super MAC guns left! They're breaking off, heading planet side towards Shinganshina. They're going for the generators now." The Captain saw he was right. The ships were indeed breaking off, slipping through the devastated human defenses, and heading for Shinganshina.

"We cannot allow them to reach that city at all. Arm the Shivas. We're nuking the bastards," Fluorite ordered. Austin nodded and tapped out a hail for ordnance.

"This is the Valeria Control Center. Requesting four Shiva Nuclear warheads to be fired at the invading forces." The reply was a bit fuzzy, as they were a bit out of range.

"_This is Arcadia. We're launching your nukes now. Stand by…. Missiles have been launched." _Austin and the Captain stared at the missiles as they streaked towards their target: four Covenant Cruisers. The nukes detonated upon contact. The ships' shields flared and dissipated, leaving an easy target. The remaining MAC fired, and the Cruisers were destroyed, the tide of battle in space starting to even out a bit. The ships that were heading for Shinganshina were destroyed, but Celes was beginning to run out of options.

"Do we have any Battle-Cruiser class ships alive at all?" Fluorite asked. Austin nodded, "Yes, we have four remaining. But we are running out of MAC rounds for the ships and the missile pods are almost completely drained. We'll need to hurry up and finish them off." Fluorite nodded in understanding.

'_I will not let my planet fall to these bastards. Not if I can help it,'_ he thought, giving himself a fighting spirit. He saw a portion of the Covenant fleet break off again, heading towards the generators.

"Damn, these bastards sure as hell are persistent, huh?" Austin muttered, echoing Fluorite's thoughts. The Covenant seemed so intent on destroying the generators powering the MAC guns that they didn't care that they were still being shot at.

Austin didn't get it. Why did the Covenant turn their backs on the human fleet? Surely that was more of a threat than anything? He started to panic a bit, but he forced himself to relax. The battle wasn't over yet. Oh no, it was far from finished.

"Sir, I wish to let you know that Celes has only 15 MAC guns left in orbit." The Captains jaw dropped on to the floor.

"15!? How did they take out that much of our defenses!? This can't be real. Please tell me this is all just a very shitty dream." Austin couldn't blame him. He was shocked too; not only about the fact that the Covenant were completely intent on killing them all, but that Celes was losing so terribly. This was one of the three strongest worlds, behind only Reach and Earth. If this world fell, humanity would lose all morale, and would surrender quicker than one could say 'Fuck'.

"Lieutenant, it is imperative that we do not let the Covenant reach the generators at all. Do you understand?" the Captain asked. Austin nodded, "Yes sir." Fluorite straightened himself, cracking his back.

"Good. Now, let's not be shy at all and give our friends a little hello, don't you think?" Austin grinned and pressed the button that launched a pair of surface to air missiles at a Covenant Corvette heading for Scaro.

"Sorry you ugly, smelly bastards, but you are not taking out that city without going through me first," he muttered. Born and raised in Scaro, Austin knew every last bit of ordnance that city held, from the vehicle reinforcements to the 15 normal MAC guns surrounding the city. It would take quite the large fleet to take that city.

"Sir, they're breaking off again" Austin warned as he checked the viewscreen again. The ships broke off and headed towards Shinganshina.

"Lieutenant, is there any way to intercept that force before they reach the city?" Fluorite asked. Austin shook his head, "No sir." The Captain took a deep breath, "May God be with them."

_**City of Shinganshina:**_

_**Population: 3 million. **_

_**Defenses: 20 MAC guns stationed around the perimeter, 10 Scorpion tanks, 15 Falcons, 20 Pelicans, 25 Default Warthogs, 15 Gauss Warthogs, 15 Rocket Warthogs, 30 Mongooses, 8 heavy machine gun turrets around the perimeter of the city.**_

_**Troops: 600,000 Marines, 10,000 ODSTs**_

***Shinganshina Military Base***

The alarm blared, blinking red. That meant only one thing: an invading force was bearing down on the city. Major Stevens looked at the radar. A Covenant force was heading straight towards them. He called over the COM to the Marines.

"Time to get locked and loaded boys. We have hostiles incoming." Right after he finished his order, a loud explosion rocked the base. Stevens dropped his cigar, and could only stare at the size of the invading Covenant forces. The fall of Shinganshina was now underway, and they were powerless to stop it…

_**A/N: Here's the end of the first chapter, and I hope you all like it. The fall of Shinganshina will probably be broken down into at least two parts, and like I said in the beginning, this is the prequel trilogy to 'The Power of Three' trilogy. Review?**_

_**Ja**_


	2. The Fall of Shinganshina Part 1

_**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating this sooner. My other more important projects kinda got in the way, and I almost forgot about this. But now, it's time for part one of Shinganshina's destruction. I hope I do a good job on it. **_

"_Time to get locked and loaded boys. We have hostiles incoming." Right after he finished his order, a loud explosion rocked the base. Stevens dropped his cigar, and could only stare at the size of the invading Covenant forces. The fall of Shinganshina was now underway, and they were powerless to stop it…_

***The Fall of Shinganshina Part 1***

Stevens stumbled around the base as one plasma blast after another started to pound the base.

"Get our MAC guns locked on! I want those Cruisers dead now!" he ordered. The alarm continued blaring, flashing red.

"Sir, MAC rounds are locked on target," a Lieutenant informed. Stevens pulled on his cigar, puffing smoke, "Blast them to Hell, LT."

"Aye aye sir!" The MAC guns flashed, and the Cruisers flickered blue, still firing away at Shinganshina. The Lieutenant wheeled around, "Sir, the ships are still inbound."

"Well, fire again!" Stevens ordered. The MAC guns flashed again, and the shields of the Cruisers broke, leaving the ships vulnerable. The ships seemed to be going backwards.

"Sir, it seems that they are retreating," the Lieutenant called. The Major narrowed his eyes, "They're not retreating. They're simply advancing in another direction."

_Shinganshina's perimeter, Station A_

Staff Sergeant Ronald emptied the clip of his Assault Rifle into a pair of Jackals, "Get the Hell off of my planet!" The aliens couldn't reply, as they were soon dead in pools of blood. Most of his squad was faring well, save for Alice. She was hit by a Plasma Rifle bolt in the upper thigh, and she couldn't get away.

An Elite Ultra towered over her, roaring with its Energy Sword ignited. Ronald tried to reach her, "Alice!" The Elite picked her struggling body up with its free hand, and sliced her head off from her shoulders. A geyser of blood erupted, spraying the ground a sickly crimson.

"You…you bastard!" Ronald screamed, shooting at the tall Sangheli. The shields of the alien broke just before it reached him, and it fell in a pile of its own intestines. The four pronged jaws were snapping for air, and Ronald proceeded to beat the alien to death.

"That was for her!" Ronald shouted angrily. He couldn't bring himself to see her headless body, and he turned away to the rest of his platoon.

"Drive 'em off! Don't let them past!" he ordered. A loud chorus of "Hoo-rah!" came from the Marines, and they lined up to show the Covenant why they were called Devil Dogs.

_Shinganshina perimeter, Station 2_

Anthony looked through his Sniper Rifle, and he paled at what he saw. His ODST squad was just wiped out by two Elite Zealots, who seemed to have excellent chemistry together.

"Dammit. Until we take out those two ugly-ass slip-lips, we won't have a fighting chance," he muttered. He signaled for reinforcements, "Bring the Warthog over here!" The LRV skidded to a halt beside him, and two Marines hopped out.

"Sir," they saluted.

"What the hell are you dilly-dallying for? Get in the 'Hog. We're going to kick some alien ass," Anthony ordered. The Marines hopped in the Warthog, leaving the driver's seat empty. He took the wheel, "Time to put the pedal to the metal." He drove off, the gunner firing over his head as he searched for more troops.

_Shinganshina Air Control_

Captain Mendez snapped her fingers, "Longswords, get in the air now. Clear the way boys."

"We're already ahead of you on that ma'am. Alan and Jimmy, intercepting the enemy," a voice said over the COM. Mendez's heart soared. Alan was one of the best pilots stationed in Shinganshina; his talent was unmatched.

'_Sweetheart, do take care,' _Mendez pleaded mentally. A pair of Seraphs broke away from the main fleet to take on Jimmy and Alan. The latter certainly lived up to his reputation, weaving in and out to dodge the plasma torpedoes.

"Sorry you space freaks, but you got to do a hell of a lot better than that to take me out," Alan said with a sly grin plastered on his face. His blond hair fell into his light green eyes, and he fired the missiles on the Longsword. Two of them hit their mark, the Seraph's shields flaring.

"Jimmy, hit it now!" he ordered.

"I'm coming up," came the bored reply. Jimmy's Longsword shot forward, spiraling to avoid a plasma blast from an Anti-Aircraft Shade Turret. Alan locked on his missiles, and blasted the turrets to bits.

"Got you," he crowed. He spun his craft out of the way of two plasma torpedoes, and he saw the bolts hit part of the city's perimeter.

"Dammit," he muttered. He flew faster, reaching his partner as they showed why they were the best flying duo in all of Celes.

_Shinganshina perimeter Station 1_

Ronald continued waving his squad past, "Move Marine! You want them ugly bastards to kill you too!?"

"N-no s-sir."

"THEN GET MOVING!" Ronald roared at the recruit, a baby-faced kid no older than 18. The Marines had to fall back as the Covenant was starting to push through their defenses. Both heavy machine guns were destroyed, and one of the MAC guns was out as well. The railguns continued to pound at the Covenant air support, taking out quite a bit of Banshees.

A plasma mortar landed nearby, melting three Marines to death. Where they stood was a massive patch of glassed land, smoldering ruins remaining.

Ronald cursed at himself. He should have noticed a Wraith was nearby. A Scorpion rolled by, firing its main cannon. The shots hit the Wraith and left the Covenant tank was a smoldering mess, purple fire coming from the engine.

"Keep at it boys!" Ronald roared. The Marines continued firing, not letting a single Covenant soldier through easily.

_Shinganshina perimeter Station 2_

Anthony drove his 'Hog to edge of the station, and was surprised at what he saw. Marines were still trying to push the enemy back, even though half of the troops here were dead. A Sergeant waved over, "We need that 'Hog ASAP!"

Anthony dropped his foot on the gas, dirt tearing up from the tires. The Marine on the turret continued firing into the Covenant onslaught, his arms starting to go numb.

Several Elites held Plasma Grenades in their hands, and they aimed at the 'Hog. One of them stuck to the windshield, sending the Marines into a panic.

"Bail!" Anthony ordered. The Marines jumped out, and a split second later the Warthog was a piece of flaming wreckage. The Elites fired their Plasma Rifles, killing the two Marines. Anthony emptied his Sniper Rifle's clip, killing two of the Elites. The other rounded on him, roared, and ignited an Energy Sword. As the other troops were busy with battles of their own, Anthony drew his knife and prepared to fight a Sangheli one-on-one.

"Come and tango, you ugly slip-lip."

_Airspace over Shinganshina_

"A, I need you to cover my back while I take out that Seraph," Jimmy crackled over the COM. Alan blasted a stray Seraph to bits before answering, "Don't worry mate; I'll cover your ass." Jimmy decided to be a wise guy, "Only my ass? Geez, you must not like me very much."

Alan snorted and sent his Longsword into a spin, avoiding everything that was launched at him.

"Alright: Target is acquired, and locked on," Jimmy told him. Alan smirked slyly, "Let it loose Jim."

"Yeehaw!" Jimmy crowed as he hit the thrusters and fired his cannons. The Seraph's shields broke after three strikes, and the craft was engulfed in flames. The wreckage flew towards Alan, and he had to dive, "Woah, low bridge!" After he spun out of the way, he saw a trio formation of Banshees, with Phantoms behind them.

"Ah bugger. We got bogeys inbound," Alan muttered.

"Don't worry, I see 'em," Jimmy replied, firing his cannons. The Banshees exploded fairly easily; the Phantoms were the real targets.

"I'm labeling high value targets, now." Alan punched something on the ship's datapad, and markers above the Phantoms appeared.

"Arm Archer missiles," Alan ordered. He armed them, the missiles glowing hot. Once the missiles were warmed, he hit the launch button, "Fire!"

Four plumes of smoke shot out from the wings, streaking towards their target. All four hit the first Phantom, and the dropship began to crumble. Jimmy's missiles hit too, and the craft exploded, killing all the Covenant on board.

"Now _that's _how we do it!" Alan yelled, firing the cannons at the next Phantom. The plasma cannon on the ship let loose a volley of shots, and it took all of Alan's skill to avoid them. He went to fire his missiles, only to find out the pods were empty; he only had his cannons left.

"Jimmy, you got any missiles left?" he asked.

"Yeah, I got at least enough to wipe out two more Phantoms. Why, are you out?"

"Unfortunately. I'll distract them," Alan answered. He sent his craft flying towards the nearest Phantom, cannons blazing.

"Get. The. Hell. Off. My. Planet," he growled, his trigger finger not yet satisfied. He got o wrapped up that he didn't notice the plasma bolts heading towards his craft.

The bolts hit the starboard wing, sending the alarm blaring. Smoke began to trail from his craft, "Dammit I'm hit."

"What!? Impossible! You're the best pilot Celes has!" Jimmy didn't know what else to say. The ace pilot was just hit in his element.

Alan saw a Phantom, and he gunned the thrusters. He made one last call on the COM, "I'll see you on the other side, Jimmy." He flew his craft right into the Phantom, both ships exploding.

"NO! ALAN!"

_Shinganshina perimeter Station 1_

Ronald fired his Assault Rifle into the chest of an approaching Elite. As the body fell, he noticed two Zealots in front of him, both wielding Energy Swords. One of them grabbed him by the throat.

"Well, what do you think we should do with this pathetic human?" one of them asked.

"Hmm, maybe we should split him in two," the other suggested. Their mandibles formed what Ronald guessed was a smile. The Marine struggled, trying desperately to break the Elite's iron grip on his throat. Both Zealots raised their swords, and Ronald knew he had breathed his last.

'_I'm so sorry. I did my best,' _he thought. That was the last thought he would ever have as the Energy Swords sliced him in two.

_Shinganshina perimeter Station 2_

Anthony waited for the Elite to make the first move. It swung the Energy Sword, and Anthony could feel the heat as the blade narrowly missed his head. He tried to stab it with his knife, but this Elite was cunning, and hadn't just fallen from a burning Warthog.

The Sangheli spun him around, and thrusted the sword through Anthony's back.

'_I guess I failed too then,' _he thought as his vision began to fade away black. He sent out a prayer, that Shinganshina wouldn't fall today.

The other Marines took sight of the ODST's lifeless body, and they charged the Elite, Assault Rifle fire penetrating the shields, breaking through, and killing it.

_Shinganshina Military Base of Operations_

Major Stevens looked at the report just sent in from Air Control. The best pilot, the one who could out-fly anyone, was dead. Confirmed KIA. He slammed his fist onto the table, "DAMMIT!"

"Um, sir, we just got another report in from Station 1. It's overrun. No survivors at all. Station 2 is barely holding sir. I suggest that we retreat from Wall Mars and fall back behind Wall Torch, the Lieutenant suggested. The Major never got to reply as another explosion shook the base.

"It's no use, LT. Shinganshina is going to fall," he said staring out the window.

_**A/N: And I'm done! Bow-chicka-bow-wow bi-otches! I watched the new season of RvB, and so far it is fucking amazing. And funny, I should add. Anyways, I'll see you soon. Review, or naw?**_

_**Ja**_


End file.
